Film/Text/Culture Autoblog -Summer 07

Since we’ve only really just begun Unit Four in terms of actual class discussion, classmate’s blogs on this subject are a little scarce. However, several entries (along with Dr. C’s in-class pointers) have really given me some things to think about with regard to the complex relationship between art and love, and the very thin line between love and obsession. Also, although blog entries rarely mention Jennie, it seems like her motivations and presence lurks everywhere, the same kind of integral-but-invisible presence she served in the novel. For instance, in Charlie’s blog, he comments that “Of course, the nature of love and whether or not soulmates exist is something each person has to decide on his/her own.” Clearly, Jennie has made this decision, and her confidence and certainty that she and Eben are meant to be together is what propels her through the film–and really what propels the film itself. […]

Original post by anniek

Coming into this class I had never seen Yojimbo or read the Glass Key, but I had seen A Fistful of Dollars many times. I have been trying over the course of our class to find what is so compelling to me about Yojimbo. Having already seen pretty much the exact same story in A Fistful of Dollars, the Kurosawa’s classic somehow resonates even more. There are two major ways in which the films differ: Yojimbo is in black and white and A Fistful of Dollars is in color, and Yojimbo is set in Japan, while A Fistful of Dollars is “set” in the American West although it was filmed in Spain. But this blog will not be relegated to a simple comparison of the films; it is intended to be an analysis of what the true genre of Kurosawa’s film should be and why it is […]

Original post by onda

Dr. Campbell’s Film, Text, and Culture class has taught us all about how to analyze the technical aspects of film, and literature; and how that relates to the culture we live in. Personally, I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge in regards to the many different components that are necessary to create a film. While understanding the importance of certain aspects of film such as acting, cinematography, and editing is an essential part of this course; I think that being able to view a movie, and see through the surface of that film to comprehend the meaning behind it, is something very special that I will certainly take away with me. Before entering this class, my view of films in general was that their main purpose was to entertain. Obviously one of the major goals for a film maker is to entertain his or her […]

Original post by ellie

Although not received well by critics at its original release in 1958, Vertigo has since become considered one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest masterpieces. Vertigo’s plot summary is as follows:
“John “Scottie” Ferguson is a retired San Francisco police detective who suffers from acrophobia and Madeleine is the lady who leads him to high places. A wealthy shipbuilder who is an acquaintance from college days approaches Scottie and asks him to follow his beautiful wife, Madeleine. He fears she is going insane, maybe even contemplating suicide, because she believes she is possessed by a dead ancestor. Scottie is skeptical, but agrees after he sees the beautiful Madeleine.” (Summary found on IMDB.com)
This movie is intriguing, mysterious, and captivating. What makes this so? There have been many movies with murder, love, and deceit. Yet, Vertigo is not like the others.
An aspect of Vertigo that fascinated […]

Original post by kcannon

Portrait of Jennie is an interesting and haunting story. I watched the movie years ago and I always remembered liking it. As I watched the movie again for class I was struck at how sad I felt. I just remembered it being a love story, but I was taken by how eerie it was. I do still enjoy the movie, I am just surprised at how time changes perspective. After recently reading the book, I am always interested to see changes that are made in the film. I think one of the most shock changes what that of Miss Spinney. While Spinney is feisty in both book and movie, the movie Spinney has much more influence on the story as a whole. Plus Mr. Matthews and Spinney’s relation is quite different. Sometimes I’m at a loss to know why certain changes […]

Original post by kcannon

We talked last Thursday about gender roles and our options for dealing with them. I didn’t weigh in on the conversation, I was very interested to sit back, observe and listen. For one, I think it would be imposible to to do away with the basic gender roles and the fact that do note men and women being different. I know the world isn’t perfect, but I really believe that a compromise can and should be made between men and women. Just because we different doesn’t make us unequal. And I do believe biologically we are very different. That isn’t a bad thing. I don’t think it’s possible for everybody to have this mindset all at once (I know there are some people out there they may object to a compromise). However, I will do what I can do and hopefully in the […]

Original post by kcannon

The 1948 film Portrait of Jennie is not really about a portrait or about Jennie; it is either a) a film about the search for inspiration in a creatively dry landscape or b) a film about love transcending time, depending on whether the viewer believes Jennie is real or not. For the purposes of this blog, we’re going to assume she is, because the character of Jennie is one that is deserving of further inspection and not mere dismissal as the figment of an artistic imagination. Although the film follows Eben’s journey from blocked and unremarkable artist to a creatively stimulated “master” of his muse, creator of work that will “one day hang in a museum,” Jennie too undergoes a journey that is largely ignored by the film. Molly Haskell on page 620 of her essay “From Reverence to Rape: Female Stars of the 1940s” justifies the omission thus: “The […]

Original post by anniek

The Westerner is regarded as one of those classic genre films so easily identifiable by the public due to its characters, settings, and story plots. These movies are filled with semantic and syntactic elements, such as small dusty towns, bars, horses, guns, and cowboy hats, with the ultimate showdown between the lone “good guy cowboy” against the trouble makers of the town. The Westerner always seems to end with the hero freeing the town from the grasp of the bad boys. The lone cowboy is then expected to ride off into the sunset, out of the town which he just saved and brought back to justice, to wander into his next daring adventure in the next helpless town that comes along. These movies involve good vs. evil, and the central focus is strong figures that fight for dominance. Who holds power and how they […]

Original post by khusband

Today’s discussion on soulmates and the nature of love in class today reminded me of an AP story I’d read about a two neolithic skeletions unearthed a few months ago:
Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua, just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet.
Buried between 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric lovers are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.
Alongside the couple, archaeologists found flint tools, including arrowheads and a knife, Menotti said.
Although the Mantua pair strike a rare and touching pose, archaeologists have found prehistoric burials in which the dead hold hands or have other contact, said Luca Bondioli, an […]

Original post by crain2mn